Happy as a dane

by CAMILLE CHIN  May 2012

Danes are better at it than Canadians, in fact, they’re the best at it in the world and, no, we’re not talking about making open-faced sandwiches, though they surely would out-smørrebrød us what with their rye bread, herring and liver-paste spread. Sandwich traditions aside, the people of Denmark are the best at… being happy. Finland, Norway, the Netherlands and Canada round out the top five according the first-ever World Happiness Report commissioned by the UN for an April 2012 conference on the subject. Switzerland, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia and Ireland complete the top 10; the US is eleventh. The 158-page report considers more than wealth (even though happier countries tend to be richer ones); it also looks at physical and mental well-being (the latter being the biggest single factor affecting happiness in any country), job security, social networks, political freedom and the absence of corruption (the last three are among the social factors more important than money). earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2960. [CC]

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